11 3 Tier Leadership Team Implementation Training: Day 8 Oakland Schools Early Childhood Special Education

Celebrate Your Successes 2

Sustaining Research- Based Practices 3

Sustaining Research-Based Practices: The challenge Gold Standard  All Instructional practices are Evidence-Based o Staff has formally evaluated and documented the adequacy of academic instructional practices used across tiers.  Instructional Practices are Implemented with Fidelity o All staff is specifically trained in the use of targeted evidence- based instructional practices/strategies for academics.

Where do you stand on the use of Evidence-Based Practices? “Professionals use interventions when those interventions make teaching easier, do not involve a lot of extra work, are relatively easy to understand and are inexpensive” Do you agree? Can this apply to all instructional practices and not just a narrow view of interventions?

Moving to Sustaining Research-Based Practices Moving from ESTABLISHING evidence-based practices to SUSTAINING evidence-based practices. Phase years INFRASTRUCTURE to Phase years IMPLEMENTATION

How big is this challenge?  Vaughn, S. Klingner, J., and Hughes, M. (2000). Sustainability of research-based practices. Exceptional Children, 66,  Read silently pages  Compare and contrast the sustainability of evidence based practices in the medical field and education.

How big is this challenge?  Gersten, Chard, and Baker. (2000). Factors enhancing sustained use of research based instructional practices. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 16, Read the Sustainability Factors and Issues from Gersten et al. Pick a evidence based strategy used at your building and think deeply at your table about the sustainability of the practice? What steps can you take to ensure sustainability?

Implementation Strategies for Evidence-Based Practices in RTI Model LEADERSHIP FOCUS:  Communicate regularly with school staff, community and stakeholders o Newsletters, staff meetings, how are we “living” our strategy o  Professional development and ongoing supports to improve instruction and assessment o Transparent Professional Development Training : Team members identify strengths and weaknesses, and seek out professional learning opportunities that “stretch” the team’s learning as opposed to validate the team’s learning.  Provide support for implementers including on-site technical assistance, coaching, mentoring, and feedback opportunities. Staff commitment to being engaged in a self- reflective practice and the culture of the building fosters this commitment. Coaching and collaboration occurs among GE and SE grade-level team members

Implementation Strategies for Evidence-Based Practices In RTI Model LEADERSHIP FOCUS:  RTI a framework that is reflected in strategies and actions in the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP). Reading achievement is a top goal.  Frequent and regular revisiting Consensus and Culture. The vision and mission is clear and continuously reflected in staff conversations. Staff feel as if it is a moral imperative rather than compliance (Reeves 2007). “we have to do this to comply with state and federal requirements” vs “student literacy is a civil right”  Building Action Plans are understood, visible, and focused on “winnable” short term instructional objectives (not waiting for MEAP results to tell us how we are doing).  Implement logistics of core, supplemental and intensive instruction o Master scheduling is a priority (assessments, grade-level meetings, progress meetings, observations, stakeholder share-out, …)

Implementation Strategies for Evidenced-Based Practices in RTI Model INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS  Develop an evaluation cycle to monitor implementation of all instructional programs o DATA driven! Instructional frameworks where insufficient percentages of students are not meeting expectations needs to monitored more frequently. o Commitment to the problem-solving process during grade level meetings that enables the team to have a “laser-like” focus on achievement and evaluate overall grade level effectiveness. o GLM are seen as a positive opportunity for learning about increasing instructional practices and priorities.

Implementation Strategies for Evidenced-Based Practices In RTI Model INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS  Use systematic methods to monitor implementation of instructional programs. o Four basic method for gathering implementation integrity data include: Self-report or rating: Interventionist completes a checklist or keeps track of essential intervention components Permanent Products: review products from the intervention to look for essential components of the intervention Direct observations: A colleague or building administrator observes the intervention as it is being implemented and records whether or not essential elements of the intervention are being implemented Rating scales or rubrics: a colleagues or building administrator observes the intervention and completes a rating score or rubric regarding the implementation of the intervention. – –Five minute observation forms

Implementation Strategies for Evidenced-Based Practices INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS  Adjust instruction based on ongoing analysis of implementation integrity and other data o Focus on Alterable Variables- (opportunities to learn, increase student responding, grouping adjustments, etc.) Instructional Variables Checklists (Program Free) Instructional Planning Form (see website) Intervention Planning Sheet (See website)

RTI for Elementary Literacy We have begun to implement… but are we implementing well? 14

Non-Negotiables for RTI Literacy Implementation Strategies to Sustain Implementation of RTI Literacy Goal Standard Implementation Evidence: Poor Implementation Evidence: The school builds its master calendar and master schedule around the instructional needs of all students so that the needs of students with core, supplemental and intensive instruction are addressed appropriately.  Scheduled 90 min, uninterrupted literacy blocks K-5  Scheduled supplemental 30 min Tier 2 blocks K-5, 3x/week for designated students  Scheduled supplemental 30 min Tier 3 blocks K-5, 5x/week for designated students Literacy blocks are not scheduled for all grade- levels, or are scheduled but interrupted by specials or pull-outs Intervention schedules are left up to individual teachers and are not communicated among staff Students at tiers 2 and 3 receive the same intervention, regardless of instructional need

Non-Negotiables for RTI Literacy Implementation Schools can be in “implementation” stage, yet have poor quality implementation that will not sustain itself.  Activity: 1. In your Building Leadership Teams, discuss what “Gold Standard Implementation” would look like in your building. Describe it as explicitly as possible in writing. 2. Describe what “Poor Implementation” would look like in your building. Write your ideas down. 3. Talk about where along this continuum your school is now.

Progress Monitoring Your Implementation Leadership Team Readiness Survey 17

Leadership Team Readiness Surveys Year 1 ( )

Action Planning 21

Linking to the RTI Network 22

Team Planning Time 23

Things to Work On…  Revise action plans and determine next steps o Ground this work in your school improvement plan and school data portrait  Plan for sharing information back in your buildings with teachers and grade-level teams o What needs to be shared? With whom? How will this be accomplished?  Plan for spring data collection window and grade-level team meetings  Plan for stakeholder share-out

OS RtI Elementary Literacy Team Joan Firestone Director, Early Childhood Michele Farah Early Literacy Consultant, Early Childhood Diane Katakowski Speech and Language Consultant, Special Education Susan Koceski School Psychology Consultant, Special Education